How CIs Work

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Courtesy of Cochlear Americas

1. Ear level sound processor. The microphone in the processor picks up sounds. The internal chip in the processor analyzes the sound and digitizes it into coded signals.
2. The coded signal is sent through a wire to the transmitting coil.
3. The transmitting coil sends the coded signal as an FM signal to the cochlear implant receiver/stimulator under the skin.
4. The receiver/stimulator delivers electrical energy to an electrode array that has been surgically placed in the inner ear.
5. The electrodes along the array directly stimulate the auditory (hearing) nerve.

The auditory nerve sends the signal through the auditory system to the brain, where it is heard and recognized as sound.